Album Review

Is This It? was Bob Newhart's last album of standup before he finally made his full-time switch to TV and the movies, having already dabbled in both. While the material is quite good, there's not much of it this time out: only 11 minutes on one side and 14 on the other. The bits here step into Newhart's usual "what if?" mode, putting a witch doctor into the position of a modern doctor, and taking a look into the mischievous thoughts of twins who are still in the womb. The last track, "Pussy Cat" is possibly the most traditional Newhart cut on record, with the whole setup building up like your typical joke, and then culminating in a punch line. Maybe that's as good a sign as any that he'd run his course as an innovative standup comedian and was ready for other vistas.

Biography

Genre: Comedy

Bob Newhart was one of the most successful and beloved comedians of his era, famed for his remarkable deadpan delivery. Newhart's track record as a comic performer was unparalleled, encompassing a string of best-selling albums as well as two of the most acclaimed and long-running sitcoms in television history. While neither as groundbreaking nor as controversial as contemporaries like Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl, Newhart raised the standup format to new levels of mainstream popularity; easily palatable...